Sinner surges into Shanghai stride with flawless opener
Carrying the weight of rare defending champion hopes, Jannik Sinner turns recent Beijing fire into a clinical dispatch of Daniel Altmaier, eyeing a historic repeat on courts that have crushed comebacks before.
In the packed hum of Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Jannik Sinner stepped out under the lights, the air thick with the scent of fresh hard courts and the low buzz of a crowd hungry for early drama at the Shanghai Masters. The tournament has rarely smiled on repeat winners since Novak Djokovic in 2013, but the world No. 2 arrived charged from his ATP 500 triumph in Beijing midweek, ready to rewrite that narrative against Daniel Altmaier.
Reclaiming edge after Beijing breakthrough
Sinner’s movement felt fluid from the first ball, his flat groundstrokes slicing through the medium-paced surface as he absorbed Altmaier’s heavy serves and redirected them crosscourt with precision. Over 98 minutes, he carved out a 6-3, 6-3 victory, converting three of four break points by pulling the German wide with inside-out forehands before closing angles down-the-line. This was their first meeting since Altmaier’s stunning upset at 2023 Roland Garros, but on these faster courts, the Italian dictated with deep returns that jammed his opponent’s swing, turning potential rallies into quick one–two combinations.
The win extended Sinner‘s dominance in China to a 23-2 record, including titles in Beijing for 2023 and 2025 alongside his Shanghai 2024 crown, his serve holding firm under the arena’s echoing cheers. He now sets sights on Tallon Griekspoor in the third round, where he holds a perfect 6-0 head-to-head edge, the Dutchman’s power testing his passing shots amid the humid night air.
Champion’s start @janniksin kickstarts his title defense with a 6-3 6-3 defeat of Altmaier.@SH_Masters | #ShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/Mw0b1wfLES
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 4, 2025
Path to No. 1 clears without Alcaraz
With Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by injury, the 24-year-old seized a golden window to chase the top ranking, his recent form masking the grind of the Asian swing. Beating Griekspoor would trim the gap to 1,290 points in the live standings; a full title defense here could slash it to just 390, the crowd’s rising energy feeding his focus as he varied slice backhands to disrupt rhythm on the low-bouncing hard courts. Psychologically, this opener felt like vindication, the Beijing high carrying him through any lingering travel fatigue, positioning him to blend baseline depth with opportunistic net forays in deeper rounds.
Medvedev’s swift surge echoes day’s tone
Across the draw, Daniil Medvedev matched the efficiency, dismantling qualifier Dalibor Svrcina 6-1, 6-1 in a brisk 60 minutes, his 22 winners outpacing nine unforced errors with flat backhand slices that turned defense into counters. Fresh from Beijing semifinals, the 16th seed leaned on elastic retrieves to force errors, his one–two punch from the baseline leaving the Czech scrambling in the arena’s controlled cool. Next up is Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who outlasted Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-4 in gritty exchanges heavy on topspin absorption.
In that section, Learner Tien, the NextGenATP American who’s toppled Medvedev twice this year including Beijing, rallied from a set down to edge Corentin Moutet 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, his flat-hitting exploiting the surface speed for aggressive returns. He now faces Cameron Norrie, a matchup laced with revenge potential for the former No. 1 as subplots thicken under Shanghai’s lights. Sinner’s poised start hints at a fortnight where tactical edges and mental resets could crown new history, the draw pulsing with unfinished rivalries.
